Doubt Fleming will play in it tbh. Disagree with your comment re quality but we all know your opinions on NZ players

If he doesn't you really are screwed. Where is the quality in NZ's lineup then? Styris will be back to being only reasonable effective (particularly with little time to get in) now he's away from rubbishy slow wickets, there's a few glorified sloggers in there like McMillan and the odd player that would be painfully average even at FC level (Marshal).

If he doesn't you really are screwed. Where is the quality in NZ's lineup then? Styris will be back to being only reasonable effective (particularly with little time to get in) now he's away from rubbishy slow wickets, there's a few glorified sloggers in there like McMillan and the odd player that would be painfully average even at FC level (Marshal).

Lucky its not a FC match then eh? NZ have a pretty good record at 20/20 matches to date, and a recent history against Australia of our lower order scoring fast runs and chasing ridiculous totals. Question the consistensy don't question the fact its even there. These are professional players and they deserve your respect if you have any love of the game.

NZ clear favourites, but its a bit harsh to say Kenya has no hope, Mate. They are neighbours to SA, they will have lots of support from locals and their fans, they are equal second favourites with SL to go to next stage after NZ, IMHO.

Oh I'm quite fond of the Kenyan team, but New Zealand and Sri Lanka are just too good for them, unless one of them completely falls apart in this form of the game, I don't think the Kenyan lineup has the aggression to top that of the very professional Sri Lankan team and the hard hitting Kiwis. If SL do send a younger squad you never know, but I hope and expect teams to send their best line ups, at least for this first 20/20 WC.

If he doesn't you really are screwed. Where is the quality in NZ's lineup then? Styris will be back to being only reasonable effective (particularly with little time to get in) now he's away from rubbishy slow wickets, there's a few glorified sloggers in there like McMillan and the odd player that would be painfully average even at FC level (Marshal).

Depends on your definition of "quality" in terms of 20/20 cricket really doesn't it? I'll keep your post in mind when the tournament comes around anyway

Lucky its not a FC match then eh? NZ have a pretty good record at 20/20 matches to date, and a recent history against Australia of our lower order scoring fast runs and chasing ridiculous totals. Question the consistensy don't question the fact its even there. These are professional players and they deserve your respect if you have any love of the game.

Critique all you like, yet as a wise man one said.

"Don't be a dick."

AthlaiIsMyHero

Can't wait for the England-NZ series. Scaly will be awful during the tests because England should win but personally I reckon our Superior quality of ODI and 20/20 players will win us those matches fairly easily.

Originally Posted by Athlai

Jeets doesn't really deserve to be bowling.

Originally Posted by Athlai

Well yeah Tendy is probably better than Bradman, but Bradman was 70 years ago, if he grew up in the modern era he'd still easily be the best. Though he wasn't, can understand the argument for Tendy even though I don't agree.

I reckon we got a decent bowling attack for Twenty 20 even without Murali, as Chandana likely to replace him. Bandara seems to have gone down the 'Anderson/Dilhara' net bowler route. I don't understand why they don't release these guys to play domestic or A cricket, instead of just doing on one tour after another without bowling in a match.

But back to my point, Vaas has always been a good One Day bowler with his change ups, i reckon that will come in handy in Twenty20. Malinga and his ability to bowl at the death could be awsome in Twenty20. Jayasuriya, Dilshan and Chandana are handy at changing things up in ODIs to keep it tight, especially Jayasuriya at the depth. The real weakness is Dilhara but his slower balls might come in handy when batsmen are looking to increase the speed of run/rate regularly.

Batting is a bit hit and miss due to our high number of stroke payers, over hitters. But if Jayasuriya gets doing it could be game over. Sangakkara and Jayawardene have improved a lot and i think will be suited to this format. The question i guess is the slow starters in Silva and Tharanga. The aggressive but inconsistent Dilshan and Muburak/Kapu. But Dilshan has shown a liking to this format in the some of the matches i've seen. Chandana, Vaas and Maharoof could be handy down the order is they get going as well.

The talk is of resting Vaas and Sangakkara as well, so i think that will reduce our chances dramatically due the crapess of Maharoof (ATM still reckon he has potential) and Prassana Jayawardene. But at full strength I think we have a handy Twenty20 side.

The man, the mountain, the Mathews. The greatest all rounder since Keith Miller. (Y)

Can't wait for the England-NZ series. Scaly will be awful during the tests because England should win but personally I reckon our Superior quality of ODI and 20/20 players will win us those matches fairly easily.

I only care about World Cups and Tests, mickey mouse ODIs and Twenty20 series I have a quick look at the scorecard and that's about it.

Lucky its not a FC match then eh? NZ have a pretty good record at 20/20 matches to date, and a recent history against Australia of our lower order scoring fast runs and chasing ridiculous totals. Question the consistensy don't question the fact its even there. These are professional players and they deserve your respect if you have any love of the game.

Critique all you like, yet as a wise man one said.

"Don't be a dick."

Not really.

Got spanked by Australia
Beat SA
Tied with West Indies (won the bowl out, but that's besides the point - the rules equally could have meant they'd lost on more wickets lost)
Lost to Sri Lanka and then beat them when they gave Murali & Jayasuriya a rest.

Can't wait for the England-NZ series. Scaly will be awful during the tests because England should win but personally I reckon our Superior quality of ODI and 20/20 players will win us those matches fairly easily.

Originally Posted by Scaly piscine

I only care about World Cups and Tests, mickey mouse ODIs and Twenty20 series I have a quick look at the scorecard and that's about it.

No, I think NZ will win that test series quite easily. England are a far cry from the 2005 Ashes winning team. Their ranking of No 2 is about 3 or 4 places too high imo. NZ to dominate

Got spanked by Australia
Beat SA
Tied with West Indies (won the bowl out, but that's besides the point - the rules equally could have meant they'd lost on more wickets lost)
Lost to Sri Lanka and then beat them when they gave Murali & Jayasuriya a rest.

That's not particularly impressive.

Australia spanked us, eh? Can't see many other teams of the world scoring 170 in their first 20/20 match against them, besides a team which has been fired up of course. No shame in being beaten by Sri Lanka (which in my opinion whave a very good chance of dominating any other side in the world besides Australia if something goes there way early on) either despite it being REDUCED BY RAIN, which is pretty ridiculous to use as an example of us being legitimately beaten.5.5 overs was just not enough for us to get past Jayasuriya and we paid the price, Even with Murali in their line up we scored a decent 150 + score.

The West Indies match was fun, Cairns's last outing I believe and IMO should have just stayed as a tie, but the bowl out was an amusing enough affair for all the players. You I see lightly slid past a victory against SA in SA but ah well, can't win em all eh?

Other than the shortened match against SL, we have so far had a great record in 20/20 and your argument against the teams ability at the game I feel is unbased, at least to the extent you are suggesting it exists at.

TBH NZ record is pretty average really, I haven't seen anything to show they have a good record. Being competitive and scoring decent totals equals a good record? Are we talking about Kenya or New Zealand here. In 5 matches they have won 2, lost 2 and tied 1 (official the results stands as a Tie for some reason). Not really results of a side that has dominated Twenty20 like you guys seem to be trying to claim.

TBH NZ record is pretty average really, I haven't seen anything to show they have a good record. Being competitive and scoring decent totals equals a good record? Are we talking about Kenya or New Zealand here. In 5 matches they have won 2, lost 2 and tied 1 (official the results stands as a Tie for some reason). Not really results of a side that has dominated Twenty20 like you guys seem to be trying to claim.

Not trying to claim anything of the sort, but a 50/50 record isn't bad at all, and one of those losses came from 5.5 overs of their innings which was a bit disappointing. Though I believe how you started is exactly the point I'm trying to bring across, "Being competitive and scoring decent totals", we're not Australia who set the world on fire with the game, yet we're far from the worst.

Not trying to claim anything of the sort, but a 50/50 record isn't bad at all, and one of those losses came from 5.5 overs of their innings which was a bit disappointing. Though I believe how you started is exactly the point I'm trying to bring across, "Being competitive and scoring decent totals", we're not Australia who set the world on fire with the game, yet we're far from the worst.

50/50 record including a game against a dramatically weakened Sri Lanka. Given it's NZ they'll only be worse when it comes down to the World Cup, where they've shown plenty of times they can't raise their game while others can - you don't win anything for being slightly above average there.